Fifty in Five
by Yellow-Spider
Summary: Challenge:The Avengers find out a little secret Tony has been hiding his whole life. How does the genius handle it when everybody suddenly finds out that he was a soldier once upon a time back in his teen years after his parents die.


**Title: Fifty In Five  
Challenge: The Avengers find out a little secret Tony has been hiding his whole life. How does the genius handle it when everybody suddenly finds out that he was a soldier once upon a time back in his teen years after his parents die.  
From: mythologyrox  
Words: 2,161  
Inspiration: Fifty In Five by Hilltop Hoods.  
A/N: Lyrics symbolise page break. No pairing. One-shot. I know I have another story to update, but I need a break, so here you go. Also it leads up to them finding out. Don't worry, the prompt didn't go completely over my head. ALSO! Lets say Tony was born in 1974, his parents died in the car crash in 1991, but I'm changing that to 1990, so he is about 37. I do not study wars, what I get comes from the internet.**

_Cos when we look back at what we have done,  
Can you believe what we have become?  
_

"We are not soldiers!"

The words had ben said with such hatred and emotion that Steve was shocked in stoic emotion. The Super-Soldier had never thought the billionaire would've even been capable of showing such grief and anger-it shook him to core. Stark stares at Steve with tear filled eyes- from anger or grief, he couldn't tell- and for the first time Steve was forced to realise that maybe there was more to Tony Stark then just money and women.

_Generation X and Generation Y,  
And the generation next will degenerate and die._

"How did you and Mr Stark meet?" Natasha asked as she gazed at Colonel James Rhodes across the table.

"At MIT," Colonel Rhodes stated calmly, "please, Agent, I've got recruits to take care of. I'm sure SHIELD already has all the information they need about Tony."

"We have gaps in our system, Colonel," Natasha said patiently, "and one gap concerns what happened to Mr Stark in his year of absence before he took over _Stark Industries."_

"He was in Italy," Rhodes stood up and gave Natasha pointed look that she could see right through- he was lying to her, "I suggest you don't pry any further."

_This is for the second time, we've been here before,  
From Vietnam to Saddam, we always needing a war,_

Steve had been trying to catch himself up on the future. First he'd started with general history, then he moved to movies, technology, lifestyle, and finally, onto wars. He read a lot about all the wars. He read about the end of WWII, the atomic bomb, Pearl Harbour, and then he moved onto the other wars. Vietnam interested him and kept him occupied for a full three days. Then he found one that sparked his interest a little more, the Gulf War. Though short he still poured over every book available.

One day he found himself strolling around Stark Towers, waiting for the usual monthly meeting to begin, he was a bit early, but better early then late. In his hand was a thick book that gave every little detail about the war. He had been walking around the halls for about ten minutes before he saw someone else. Just his luck it was Tony, and this time he didn't mean it sarcastically, he actually needed an opinion on this.

"Hey, Stark," Steve called to the billionaire, who turned to face him, eyebrows raised in question, "I was wondering if your father have any involvement in the Gulf War?"

For a moment Steve saw the same look of grief and anger in Tony's eyes like on that day in the Hellicarrier when Coulson had died. He peered at the man, trying to see pin exactly what the emotion was, but Tony easily slipped on a mask of coolness.

"I don't know," Tony shrugged as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants, "I was at school."

Right. It had started in August of 1990, Tony would've still been at MIT, that much Steve could tell from the file.

"Sorry for bothering you," Steve said in all honesty as he turned his attention back to the book.

"It isn't that interesting," Tony made an off comment as he jerked his head towards the book, "load of bullshit."

_Iran and Afghanistan, sands of the Arab lands,  
Orders from portable commands in armoured caravans._

Bruce was the first to notice something odd about Tony in terms of reference to war. He'd been sitting watching the daily news while Tony was making himself a drink at the bar. Pepper was situated to the left of him, tapping away at her Blackberry, manicured fingers never missing a beat.

"_Three men from the 61__st__ regiment have been killed today in Iraq after a roadside bomb was triggered remotely. The three men, Sargent Richard Michaels, Private John Wilson and Private Luke Flint were killed on sight, while a further four where injured, one sustaining what is to believed to be permanent spinal damage-"_

"Turn that crap off," Tony said in a tone laced with something Bruce had never heard before.

Without even questioning it, Pepper took the remote and turned it to finance, all the while Bruce just acted like he hadn't noticed it. He had, of course, and he tried to think of why Tony didn't like what had been taking place in the news report. Maybe he just wasn't over the part that his weapons took in the war- the was the only sensible thought that Bruce could fathom.

_The plague of Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome,  
Soldiers sent home, posttraumatic stress leave,_

It was at in the middle of the night and Clint thought he was the only one awake. He sat at the large kitchen bench of Stark Towers, sipping from a bottle of vodka, casually flicking bits of the wax lid around the room. The only light came from the city behind him. He preferred it that way, silence, darkness, and time alone with his thoughts. He supposed he shouldn't have thought he'd get those three things when under the same roof as Tony Stark.

The billionaire came into the kitchen and went straight to the bar situated to the left, not noticing the agent that sat stock still at the table. Clint could hear ragged breathing and smell body sweat. The sound of a scotch decanter being opened pierced the night, and Tony turned around, glass in hand, and spotted Clint. Clint noticed the flushed face, racing breathing, and slightly frightened look in the inventors eyes.

Nightmares- Clint knew them to well.

"Afghanistan?" Clint didn't even bother with a hello.

Tony downed all of his drink in one large gulp before answering, "partially," he poured himself another, "Loki?" he questioned.

"Worst things have happened then just Loki," Clint replied as he took a swig from his bottle, "this is good stuff."

"That's expensive stuff," Tony took a seat at the table, finishing off another glass.

"I'm sure you can afford to buy another bottle," Clint commented sarcastically as he swallowed another mouthful.

Once again the night fell into a comfortable silence. The two of them drunk until their bottles were empty, and then they parted, never speaking of it again.

_Metallica, kill 'em, let god scold 'em all,_

"Thor, you just grip it lightly-" Natasha was saying very gently to a slightly confused Thor, "and press down on the trigger, keeping it aimed straight at the target."

Tony just shook his head. For some reason, they- being all the Avengers- had decided to go to a shooting range. Clint was already giving lessons to Bruce, who was very against the idea, but somehow still agreed to fire a handgun at least once. Steve was inspecting a nice shiny _Stark Industries _sniper, obviously liking the handy work, while Natasha was giving Thor a 101 in gun safety.

The billionaire held his own gun. It was nice hefty M-16 Rifle, his own personal one. Clint eyed the weapon from across the room. He had never seen Stark handle anything but his suit. Did the man even know how to fire a gun? Sure, he was the son of a weapons maker, and a weapons maker himself, but that M-16 looked a little to old for someone as technologically advanced as Tony.

"You know how to use that thing, Stark?" Clint questioned from the end of the range.

As if in answer, Tony slapped a button on the bench in front of him, and a series of cardboard cutouts of people began shifting around about fifty metres back. Tony levelled the gun and began firing the weapon with skill, not even recoiling from the impact. Natasha raised an eyebrow and watched as Tony lowered the gun, switched on the safety, and easily checked through his results.

Headshots, chest shots, and groin shots were the most common. It shocked everyone in the room into silence.

_Investors they were taxed, a dollar for a dime,  
Rich bleeding the kind, blind leading the blind,  
And history repeats, no competing with time._

It was only when the Avengers moved into the Stark family mansion did they get answers to their questions. It was a hot summers day when they arrived and everyone instantly went to investigate. Steve was very interested in Howards home. He did feel a little odd though. It wasn't because the house was so large, or empty, but simply because he was walking the same halls that the dead inventor used to. The walls showed painted pictures of various Starks, some awards, some media photos…it was very typical of a family home.

When Steve entered a dusty old office, he instantly felt like he didn't belong. It was rich and expansive, just like everything else in the house, but for some reason the room just gave him goosebumps. On the table was unopened mail, so dusty and yellow it looked about ready to fall apart at any moment. As far as Steve could tell, it was the only room that showed signs of age, everything else in the house was perfectly in place.

He was about to leave when a letter at the top of the pile caught his interest. It was addressed to _Anthony Karts_, which was odd considering it was the Stark house. Slight curiosity got the better of Steve as he stepped forward and picked up the letter. It looked like an official document, with something hard and round, a box perhaps, enclosed inside.

"Unopened mail," Clint suddenly swooped into the room and took the envelope from Steve's hand, "nothing tickles my fancy more."

Clint was already tearing open the envelope.

"Maybe we shouldn't-"

A box had already fallen out. It was a red velvet box, perhaps the size of a jewellery box. Clint smirked a little and bent down to pick it up. Opening it up he cocked his head to the side and looked at what was inside.

"It's a service medal," Clint set it down on the table before pulling out the letter, "_In commendation of your service with Desert Storm we wish to award you with the Southwest Asia Service Medal-"_

"Isn't that for the Gulf War?" Steve questioned in surprise.

"Yes," Clint looked quizzical for a moment, "maybe it was meant for one of the servants. One way to find out."

"Maybe we shouldn't-"

Clint was already gone.

Steve followed the quick agent, who within a matter of seconds had found Tony. The man was sitting in one of the lounge rooms, checking his phone, while Thor was investigating one of the golden ornaments over the fire place, Natasha was reading what looked like an old leather bound book of _The Merchant of Venice_, and Bruce was flicking through some random magazine.

"Who does this belong to?" Clint asked as he dropped the medal on Tony's lap. Tony gazed down at it for a moment, a little surprised, before answering.

"A servant that used to work here," Tony took the medal off his lap like it was a disgusting piece of trash.

"Anthony Karts?" Steve couldn't help but question.

"I didn't really take the time to learn their names," Tony said rather flippantly.

"Karts is an anagram for Stark," Natasha commented from her seat, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Coincidence," Tony commented lightly.

Clint suddenly seemed to catch on to whatever Natasha was trying to get across, "you're pretty handy with an M-16."

"I used to make weapons for a living," Tony deadpanned, not even looking up from his phone, "of course I know how to fire them."

"No one knew where you were between 1990 and 1991," Natasha added in.

"My parents had just died," Tony gave a pointed glare to the red head, "excuse me for taking some time to grieve."

"Guys, maybe you should just back off," Bruce finally joined the situation.

"You were in the army," it finally hit Steve.

Tony took a deep breath, "so what if I was?" He seemed to finally give in.

"Why did you join?" Steve suddenly felt a new found bit of respect for the man. He was a fighter. He'd fought in wars before, not just given them the guns and means to fight them.

Tony stood up looking rather annoyed, "My parents had just died, I was expected to run a multi-billion dollar company, and all the while deal with the media."

"You did it to run away?" Thor finally questioned, breaking the tense silence.

"I did it because I could," Tony moved towards the doorway, "there's a reason I didn't want people to know.

_Cos when we look back at what we have done._

"_Removed from active service due to Gulf War Syndrome…." _Natasha read from the old files, "_along with high risk PTSD."_

_Can you believe what we have become?  
As we walk into the sun._

**Okay, really bad, but I got really bored. Mythologyrox I might continue this or do the other challenges later.**


End file.
